TAMPA (USF) – The University of South Florida football program had six student-athletes earn recognition on the 2024 Academic All-District Football Team, selected by College Sports Communicators, which recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
Members of the CSC Academic All-District Team must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, maintain at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average as an undergraduate and graduate student (if applicable) and have competed in 90 percent of the team’s games or started 67 percent on the season.
The Bulls were represented by quarterback/holder Ryan Bolduc (Sarasota), kicker John Cannon (Fort Lauderdale), long snapper Garrett Cates (Lutz, Fla.), tight end Evan Dangler (Bradenton), wide receiver Christian Helms (Seffner) and offensive lineman Gannon Lanning (Spring Hill).
Bolduc, Cannon, Helms and Lanning have all earned USF degrees, while Cates and Dangler are both juniors. Cannon was named MVP of the Bulls’ Hawai’i Bowl victory after going 3-for-3 on field goals and scoring 13 points (4-4 on PAT) in the game. His 41-yard field goal with two seconds remaining sent the game into overtime and his 36-yard field goal in the second overtime tied the game and sent it to further overtimes and an eventual USF victory. Bolduc was the holder and Cates the long snapper for those crucial kicks and all season.
Bolduc, who is pursuing a biomedical sciences master’s degree with a 4.0 GPA, and Helms, who earned a exercise science master’s degree with a 3.70 GPA, were both advanced to voting for the Academic All-America team.
USF capped its second-straight winning season with a second-straight bowl victory, downing San Jose State 41-39 in a five-overtime thriller in the Hawai’i Bowl on Dec. 24.